Victorian Era Fashion - Pre Hoop 1840-1855

The Victorian Era is the era of time when Queen Victoria ruled the English Kingdom.

During this time fashion was exceptional. Touching base on the trends I'm going to break up the Era into 5 sections. To begin, I'm starting with the obvious, Pre Hoop 1840-1855.

Pre-Hoop.

Between 1840 and 1855 fashion was about the how wide you can get your skirt and the smallest you can make your waist look. Women would achieve this by supporting the skirts with petticoats, some would even wear up to 5 petticoats at a time underneath their shirt to achieve the widest skirt possible. These petticoats were made of horsehair or stiffened with cane and padding. Flounces were then added to the skirts to create an even wider effect.

The waist of their dresses would usually be longer than their natural waist with points at the front and back of the bodice. Trimmings generally were placed and angled so that they would go wide at the shoulders, slim at the waist and then wide again towards the hem of the skirt. this would create a super slim waist along with a wider skirt. The shoulder line of the bodice would be brought down longer than the natural shoulder line, this would restrict movement of the womens arms which would typically restrict them from throwing their arms around in public. Sleeves were also narrow. Evening bodices were low and off the shoulder. This would show off their feminine décolletage and were often covered in folds of fabric. During the daytime, their necklines were often more open yet covered with Chemisette's.